Georgia Avenue - 4 posts

For this edition of D.C. Intersections, the Race, Ethnic and Community Reporting Fall 2010 class decided to take on a different approach to community: a street instead of a neighborhood. Georgia Avenue Northwest is the the District’s longest commercial corridor, and a snapshot of many of the forces that are shaping the Metro Area. A trip down Georgia Avenue, from north to south, traverses Silver Spring, Md.; a panoply of immigrant businesses, particularly from Africa and the Caribbean; the gentrifying and historically black neighborhoods of Petworth and Shaw, the latter home to Howard University.

Ethnic food does more than just satisfy one’s stomach. It provides emotional comfort and a connection to home for many immigrants.

By Viktorija Rinkeviciute

A loud doorbell greets customers of the small African grocery shop on Georgia Avenue Northwest. It’s dark inside. Boxes of fruit are lined up on the ground, and shelves are jammed with jars and bags inscribed with foreign letters. There’s a dried skin of a goat on the top shelf, the fridge is full of goat meat, there’s plenty of dried fish in boxes nearby. The unusual smell would tickle a Westerner’s nose, but this is a smell of home for most African immigrants in D.C.

“There are a lot of Africans here who don’t like to use American products, because they are used to African products, no matter how long they have been here,” says Lillian Eziefula, the manager of the Pro Bono Tropical Food store. Special body lotions, soap, hair styling products, as well as African movies, are on display along with with ethnic food. All items sell well, says Eziefula.

Eziefula and her brother are originally from Nigeria. They opened the store five years ago. Before, the family had a liquor shop a couple of blocks up the avenue, but “it had some problems,” says Eziefula, including petty theft and dealing with drunk. “It’s just one thing after another, after some time you get fed up with it.”

When a previous owner decided to sell this grocery store, Eziefula and her brother saw an opportunity for a more peaceful business. Besides, says Eziefula, back in those days, the African community was very much in need of an ethnic food store.

“There were very few African stores around. When people came from Africa to study here, due to lack of African food, once they were done with their studies, they decided to go back home,” says Eziefula, who used to drive 15-20 miles to buy special Nigerian products herself.

According to a Brookings Institute analysis, the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area is the major destination for African immigrants, most of who come from Ethiopia and Western Africa. Nigerians, Dominicans, Ethiopians and people from the Caribbeanmake up the majority of Georgia Avenue’s immigrant population.

For most African communities, food is more than than just a remedy from hunger. It has deeper meaning as a part of sacred ritual. Food experts say that for immigrant populations, ethnic food provides emotional comfort in an alien environment.

A mother’s embrace
War correspondent Anna Badkhen has just published a book, “Peace Meals: Candy-Wrapped Kalashnikovs and Other War Stories,” in which she tells stories of people in war-torn countries through food they shared. In extraordinary situations, Badkhen says, traditional food becomes like a mother’s embrace.

“When I travelled with American troops, food was very important to them. They were plugged into a middle of a war zone, far from home, in their 20s or 30s. Maybe it’s their first time away from home,” Badkhen says. “Having pizza or a burger, something that they have grown up with, was extraordinarily important for them. It really was a comfort zone.”

Badkhen, who is originally from Russia, says that the food people grow up with is of great importance to immigrants as well. Sometimes, a taste of home is the only familiar thing in a foreign environment. The author remembers, a couple of decades ago, seeing American people in Russia or Jordan who’d spend a fortune for a burger and fries.

“They’d find a place, a diner in Moscow … called Starlight Diner and they were serving basic diner food, but it was just twice as expensive as in America – $7 milkshakes, $8 burgers,” Badkhen says. She now lives in the United States and mostly craves pickled mushrooms and salted Russian herring that she’d have to clean herself.

Western food is glamorized
Ebele Ikezogwo, 28, from Nigeria knows exactly what Anna Badkhen means when she says traditional foods in crucial to immigrants.
“When I was a student in Massachusetts, I’d never been on a plane before, I’d never been to America. The only thing that connected me to Nigeria was basically eating foods that I was familiar with,” Ikezogwo says.

She has been living in the U.S. for 11 years, but Ikezogwo says she still hasn’t gotten used to American diet. “I had a very difficult time adjusting to American cuisine, it was very foreign and I developed anemia from not eating properly,” Ikezogwo says.

She also noticed that her generation of Nigerians does not take local food seriously. Instead, they prefer a “glamorized Western cuisine,” so Ikezogwo started a blog dedicated to changing this perception. She says that Africans have a very strong emotional connection to food which goes beyond just nourishment.

“Food has almost a spiritual meaning. When we have a naming ceremony, when a child is born, when woman gets pregnant and she delivers, when people die, there are very specific foods we believe have to be served at such occasions,“ says Ikezogwo. “A lot of foods we eat are ceremonial.”

Waking up the dead?
Back inside the Nigerian grocery shop, Eziefula is cutting stockfish into pieces for one of her customers. Business is going well, Eziefula says. However, the recession has had an impact – both her business, as people “are trying to save a nickel and dime,” and to Georgia Avenue itself.

“I could remember three to five years ago when you came to Georgia Avenue, there were a lot of people. People were moving around, hanging around,” Eziefula says. “A lot of shops were open, business thriving, but now things are no longer the way it used to be. Georgia is like a dead zone.”

Yet two blocks down from Eziefula’s shop, Maurice Grant, 48, opened another Afro-Caribbean grocery store recently.

“I saw that this kind of store was needed at this location and it’s been working quite well,” says Grant, originally from Jamaica. “Some people like their fresh fruit early in the morning and I open at 7 a.m., they can come in, get their fresh fruit and go to work.”

In his shop, Grant says, one can buy five bananas or three oranges for a dollar. “People like it like that I keep supplying them like that.”

He adds this was the best time to start a business, since Georgia Avenue has been revitalized in recent years.

“Most of the buildings are painted and renovated over. It will help the community, because a whole lot of businesses are opening up. And once a business opens, somebody is getting a job,” says Grant, who has lived in the neighborhood for 15 years.

Both Grant and Eziefula have different views on Georgia Avenue’s future. Eziefula says she doesn’t know what five years down the road will bring, but “things are not looking up at all.” Grant says the change the Avenue is undergoing is the best thing that could happen to the neighborhood in a decade.

There’s one thing, however, both business owners in Georgia agree on – African and Caribbean immigrants here will still be greeted by a loud doorbell and the smell of dried fish, and they’ll pick up their fresh fruit at 7 a.m.

Residents of the historically black Georgia Avenue-Shaw District neighborhood fight to hold on to their community: Sankofa Café remains an anchor as clientele changes

By Mimi Brown

Georgia Avenue-Shaw District has long been considered one of the premier historically black areas of Washington, D.C., but now, residents say, gentrification is threatening to take over and destroy a century’s worth of history and culture.

Georgia Avenue residents say they are not going without a fight. They’ve formed the Georgia Avenue Community Development Task Force. The main goal of the task force is to ensure the community is informed and has a strong voice in the revitalization process.

“We are looking at major redevelopments. It is really hard to keep them from coming, but I think there are a lot of things that the residents can do to make sure the new development that is coming is equitable for everyone,” says Sylvia Robinson, co-founder of the Georgia Avenue Development Task Force.

The community’s history dates back to the 1860s when freed slaves came from Virginia looking for work and settled in an encampment on Fifth Street and W Street Northwest, north of Florida Avenue. The encampment later became known as Howard Town after Gen. Oliver Otis Howard, who was at the time head of the Freedman’s Bureau.

Out of Howard Town came Howard University and The National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children, now known as the Emergence Community of the Art Collective. The area became known as the best location to start a black business; it was known for its entertainment, education and the overall black movement.

However, the 1968 riots in the wake of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination changed the face of the area and caused a lot of devastation, not just on Georgia Avenue, but all over the city. The city began plans to rebuild various neighborhoods, including H Street and 14th Street.

“Georgia Avenue has always been the last frontier, for a lot of reasons,” Robinson says, “It didn’t have the city-owned land parcels, like some of the other areas. Plus the university is here, and it owns a lot of property.”

Robinson says developers also overlooked Georgia Avenue, because it wasn’t conducive to major redevelopment like malls and shopping centers. But now that the other areas are pretty much done, Georgia Avenue becomes the next target.

“There are about six to eight major development projects coming along Georgia Avenue, Robinson says. “There is the big Shaw Metro development pan, Howard University has the Howard Town Center coming, and it’s also redeveloping its strip of land at Bryant Street, and there are a host of condominium projects.”

The task force was formed in December of 2009, and meets twice a week. Its members say they strive to be proactive.

“Rather than follow the city around and catch up with their meetings, we tell them what we want to see, what we are going to fight for.” Robinson says.

Residents say the process has been transparent so far. At any given meeting, residents are likely to run into city officials, community leaders, even developers. The open meetings prompt progressive dialogue from officials, and in turn the community is informed and has a strong voice in the renovation process, which is the overall goal of the task force.

“It’s still a very unique community,” Robinson says. “We have a lot of relationships here, entrenched small businesses are the heart of this community, it is very much a strong black community, full of history and culture, and we’re just trying to preserve that.”

Local businesses like Sankofa Cafe and Bookstore say the threat of gentrification won’t scare off their patrons. In fact, it’s bringing them a different set of clientele. Sankofa is a staple in the Howard University community. It is located in the heart of the community across from Howard University on Fairmont Street and Georgia Avenue.

“Our customers are changing a bit, yes, but about 60 percent of our business comes from Howard University students,” says Tensae Berhanu, owner of Sankofa Cafe.

“Black people will always need a place they can go and learn about themselves,” Berhanu says, “We do that through the selling of our books, films and art.”

The following major projects are planned for the stretch of Georgia Avenue between New Hampshire and S St:

7th and S: The Progression Project over the Shaw Metro and will extend north for most of the block. The United Negro College fund will be the primary tenant. It will contain 94,000 SF of office space and 180 – 200 residential rental units.

7th and T: The Howard Theater reconstruction is planned to complete by 2011.

7th and V: The Howard Town Center project with 440 apart- ment units, a Fresh Grocer and other retail.

Georgia and Barry: Restructuring of the Wonder Plaza facility with uses that will benefit students and the community.

Georgia and Newton: The Park Morton Redevelopment on Georgia Avenue, consisting of 83 affordable apartment units in a 7 story building. Georgia Avenue, consisting of 83 affordable apartment units in a 7 story building.

As the neighborhood around Capitol Tattoo Ink on Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring has changed, the business remains a mainstay for its loyal customers

By Samantha Blee

When it comes to tattooing, Al Herman knows the ins and outs of the industry. What started as a cleaning job has now grown into a 32-year career, taking the veteran artist to various cities along the East Coast, including Clearwater, Fla., and Laurel, Md. Now, Herman is located on Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring, Md., where he owns his established tattoo parlor, Capitol Tattoo Ink.

Capitol Tattoo Ink first opened its doors on Georgia Avenue in 1992, when Herman decided to move the store from its birthplace in Laurel. Though his piece of Georgia Avenue wasn’t exactly the best area at the time of his move, Herman believes that the section of Silver Spring has changed since his arrival.

“Years ago, this was a pretty rough neighborhood. Especially in the evening,” he says. “But it’s cleaned up around here. I actually enjoy these customers better than any place I’ve ever been.”

The atmosphere inside Capitol Tattoo Ink reflects its owner’s welcoming attitude. The store has developed into a go-to place for Silver Spring community members, who often stop by even if they have no intention of going under the needle.

“A lot of times we also have customers who don’t come back and get tattoos,” says Marco Wright, one of Capitol Tattoo Ink’s artists. “A lot of people just come by and say, ’Hey, here’s the work that you did and it’s like five years later.’ So we have customers like that too.”

Capitol Tattoo Ink’s artists draw a wide variety of customers, ranging from those referred by friends in California, to those from down the street at Walter Reed Hospital. Though the parlor doesn’t have the same clientele as all other local businesses, it is still a respected member of the business community.

“I’ve actually gone in there before,” says Shadae Jones of Vivanti Hair Studio, which is located nearby on Georgia Avenue. “I don’t have any tattoos myself, but they’re very nice.”

Another driving force in Capitol’s Tattoo Ink’s clientele comes in the form of family members. Since the store established itself almost a decade ago, multiple generations now frequent the parlor.

“I’ve noticed that we have kids who are 20 and 18 that Al (Herman) worked on years ago, their parents are bringing them here,” says Thomas Schwartzman, another member of the Capitol team. “We have a family aspect since he’s been here as long as he has.”

The staff and artists at Capitol Tattoo Ink tend to build strong relationships with their customers. The store’s website even features a slideshow of some of the artists posing with their satisfied clients. Often, customers request specific artists, who develop their own regulars.

“My first customer, who still comes in to this day, Mama Bear, wanted me to tattoo her before I was allowed to tattoo,” says Wright. “And still to this day, five, six years later, she still comes back for more work.”

Herman makes sure that all of his staff are personable when it comes to dealing with customers. He not only reviews their portfolios of previous art, but also makes prospective staff work through a trial period.

“They’ve got to be personable,” he says. “Even if their artwork’s good. If they’re not good with customers, I don’t want them here. I don’t want anybody who can’t get along with anybody else.”

Though Herman used to run up to five tattoo artists at a time, the economy has taken its toll on his business. When the staff would arrive at noon on a work day, he says, there would already be a line awaiting their arrival.

“And there’d be 20 people waiting in line at all times,” says artist Brian Herman, better known as “Doc.” Now, even on Friday nights, the store doesn’t attract nearly as many customers as it used to serve. “We’re a luxury, not a necessity,” he says.

But the art of tattooing isn’t something that will disappear completely with the economy. There are always those waiting their turn to get a bit of ink.

“We had kids who walked by this shop years ago that were nowhere near old enough,” says Herman. “I’ll let them look around. I won’t throw them out because they are our future customers.”